Origins of 10 Common Expressions such as, "Raining Cats and Dogs", "Piece of Cake", and OthersSign up
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1. It’s raining cats and dogs\
Meaning:
It is raining very hard.
Origin:
There are different stories behind this popular idiom but my favorite one takes place in 17thcentury England wherein strong rains would cause floods on streets. Found in the masses of water were dead animals, such as lifeless, stray cats and dogs. The scene plus the people’s creative imagination generated this widely used

The simpler justification for this well-used idiom is that first, cakes are easy to swallow, and second, how hard is it to slice a piece of cake? The more intriguing narrative about this idiom is that cakes were given out as prizes in the 1870’s. More specifically, the contest was easy. All the players (at that time, slaves) must do was walk around a cake. The most graceful couple would win the cake. How simple and effortless is that?

3. Green with envy

Meaning:

To be very jealous

Origin:

Though there are only two known stories regarding the origin of this expression, the more favored one came from a comic book (Marvel) character named “Hulk” who would turn green when he was angry or jealous.